InSight

hasn’t happened. Now, besides her cop boyfriend, Archer and another psychiatrist are involved—a doctor Stewart might trust, because he sure as hell didn’t trust you.”
    “I couldn’t do too much about that. He didn’t trust me from the beginning. Part of our problem is that psycho Collyer you have working for you. He should be locked up in my hospital. If he hadn’t played games with the Gallant woman, there’d be no cop involved, and McCallister wouldn’t be here in Charleston cozying up to Archer.”
    “That psycho and his men take care of all the dirty work no one else wants to do. He took care of that pesky reporter, didn’t he?”
    “Another person who wouldn’t have been involved if it weren’t for McCallister.”
    “I should have eliminated Devon the first time he stuck his big nose into our affairs. Lord knows I tried. Okay, granted Collyer has a tendency to get a little carried away, but it’s too late now. Besides, I can hardly punish him, can I? My father wouldn’t approve.”
    “If Stewart opens up to the wrong person, then another person is involved. You can’t get rid of everyone, Carlotta. Your daughter-in-law’s psychiatrist friend might get Stewart to talk by using the same techniques I used. What will you do then?”
    “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Even if Abigael remembers something, she won’t be around to talk about it.”
    “Doubtful she will talk,” Scanlon said. “I’m confident my procedure worked. Besides, we weren’t sure she knew anything, even then.”
    “This is a hell of a time to find out,” Carlotta barked.
    “I’ve tried, you know I have. If your man had left her alone, we wouldn’t have stirred up all this interest. Nature would have taken its course.”
    “If your men hadn’t been so lax, Stewart would still be in la-la land and none of this would have happened.”
    “It’s all your fault. You ― ”
    “Enough!” Mrs. Gentry snapped. “Let’s not get into a pissing match about who made the bigger mistakes. What’s done is done. I’ll take care of Detective McCallister, but don’t go anywhere. I might have another guinea pig for your experiments. I trust you, Herbert. Don’t let me down.”
    She hung up before Scanlon said anything else she didn’t want to hear.
    Damn. She hated to admit it, but the psychiatrist was right. Too many people were involved now. She had to get the information and shut up her son and ex-daughter-in-law for good. But first, she needed to take care of Abigael’s deaf boyfriend.

Chapter Thirty-One
    Into the Spider’s Web

    A message awaited Luke when he got back to the hotel.

    Mrs. Carlotta Gentry wishes to see you. A car will be waiting in one hour. Please be ready.

    Half an hour had passed since the timed message. No more games. She not only knows I’m here, she knows where I’m staying.
    Luke asked the hotel desk clerk to call Norm Archer’s cell. The call relayed automatically to the precinct switchboard. Detective Archer was in a briefing. If it’s an emergency, the operator said, she’d interrupt.
    “No, that’s okay,” Luke told the hotel desk clerk. “Leave a message that Luke McCallister called, and tell him I’ll catch up later.” He thought of texting him, but if he was in a meeting, he didn’t want to disturb him. He left a note for him at the desk about his invitation.
    Should he go? Had he played his hand too quickly? If she knew he was here, she probably knew he’d met with Norm. The desk clerk knew where he was going. What could she do in broad daylight? He was a cop. He knew what he was doing. Still, maybe he should wait for Norm. Damn that he couldn’t talk on the phone. Damn it to hell. No, waiting wasn’t an option. The iron wasn’t hot; it sizzled. He checked his gun, slipped it into his shoulder holster, and tucked another into a leg holster. Striking time.
    A limo arrived at the stated time. A uniformed chauffeur opened the back door and ushered Luke inside. He spoke directly to him, offering a drink from the bar in back. Luke declined but noted the driver knew he couldn’t hear.
    He estimated the distance to the Gentry estate at ten miles from the Battery . The limo entered through an iron gate to a long, curved driveway, bordered by dozens of mature azaleas lush with brightly colored blooms and canopied by ancient live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. Clusters of flowers edged the entrance of the house. The antebellum plantation sat on six acres